Coronado ends merger discussions with Peabody, Suncorp flooded with claims and Medibank remains calm despite threat

Queensland-based Coronado Global Resources (ASX: CRN) has ceased merger discussions with global coal giant Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU).

Both parties jointly agreed to end talks over a deal that was estimated to be worth more than $9 billion. Following the collapse in negotiations, Coronado’s share price tumbled around 5% at the start of the week.

Coronado said the news won’t impact its fourth quarter plans and will continue to “pursue and implement its existing capital management plans and remains focussed on its existing capital investments and long-term development strategy”.

The company has reported group revenue of US$2.85 billion for first nine months of 2022, more than double the previous year’s US$1.374 billion.

A merger would’ve seen the formation of a coal powerhouse, as Peabody is the largest coal producer in the United States, owning thermal and coking mines in New South Wales and Queensland. However, Coronado is now focused on moving into thermal coal on its own.

Just last week, Coronado’s chief executive officer Gerry Spindler said the miner was prepared to move away from solely coking coal for steel making and identified opportunities in thermal coal.

Mr Spindler said thermal coal, which is reaching sky-high prices for Australian producers, could be more valuable for an extended period.

Suncorp Group

Australian insurer Suncorp Group (ASX: SUN) has announced a bad start to FY2023, due to flooding in Victoria and New South Wales.

The flooding has caused the giant to fork out up to $410 million in claims relating to natural hazards, even before the anticipated wild summer season begins.

Claims in the first three months of the financial year have made up as much as 46% of Suncorp’s budgeted allowance for wild-weather damage and pressures for the entire financial year.

Suncorp’s natural hazard allowance for FY2023 is $1.16 billion, divided equally between the first and second halves of the financial year.

There has been five declared natural hazard events across Australia and New Zealand, which saw the group receive more than 13,000 claims by 31 October.

Suncorp chief executive officer Steve Johnston said the La Niña weather pattern caused Victoria to record some of its worst flooding in more than 100 years.

“This event has seen a higher proportion of large losses given the level of inundation,” he said.

The group is bracing for more claims with cyclones season occurring between December to April.

Capricorn Metals

Capricorn Metals’ (ASX: CMM) share price surged around 10% on Monday after it announced the mineral resource estimation or its Mt Gibson gold project (MGGP) has increased by 32% to 2.755 million ounces of contained gold.

The estimate is an a substantial increase on the prior 2.083Moz resource for the Western Australian project.

Capricorn executive chairman Mark Clark said the company is excited by the results of the project so far.

“The increase in the Mt Gibson gold resource to 2.8Moz is a fantastic validation of the quality of the project we acquired just over a year ago,” he said.

Mr Clark added additional drilling would present opportunities to further build the project’s resources.

“The shallow average depth of the resource also gives us confidence that the project will continue to grow with further drilling.”

He noted the new resource comprises 2.106Moz in the indicated category – providing a “a very strong basis” for a maiden reserve.

Medibank

The cybercriminal responsible for attacking Australia’s largest health insurer Medibank Private (ASX: MPL) has threatened to publish the confidential data it obtained within 24 hours if demands were not met.

It comes after Medibank stated it would not pay a ransom demand for the insurer’s data, which was stolen last month.

Medibank has now confirmed 9.7 million Australians had their basic personal information accessed by the hackers, which includes 5.1 million Medibank customers, 2.8 million AHM and 1.8 million international customers.

Among the information breached were names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.

Medibank chief executive officer David Koczkar said the insurer would not give in to the threats – saying advice from experts indicates there is only a limited chance paying a ransom would ensure the return of customer data.

“The reality is, based on our expert advice, that this would increase the likelihood of the criminal using this data, exploiting further our customers, and also putting further Australians at risk by being known to pay ransoms.”

Mr Koczkar has apologised again to customers and urged them to remain vigilant.

Medibank said it continues to work with the Australian Government, the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Australian Federal Police in its investigations.

The insurer said it will continue supporting its customers through this difficult time.

“We will continue to support all people who have been impacted by this crime through our Cyber Response Support Program,” Mr Koczkar said.

“This includes mental health and wellbeing support, identity protection and financial hardship measures.”

The Star Entertainment Group

Casino operator Star Entertainment Group (ASX: SGR) has been served with a second securities-class action lawsuit after allegedly failing to comply with disclosure requirements concerning anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules.

Maurice Blackburn has filed this latest lawsuit, which alleges between 29 March 2016 and 16 March 2022 the giant made “misleading representations” about its systems and processes for compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations.

In a company statement, the group has confirmed it will defend the proceedings, saying the lawsuit is “substantially similar” to the class action filed by Slater & Gordon in March 2022.

The Slater & Gordon filing came days after Matt Bekier resigned from his position of managing director and chief executive officer with Star. Mr Bekier’s resignation follows issues raised in public hearings relating to a review in connection with The Star Sydney.

The Australian casino operator’s share price has fallen around 20% this year amid ongoing investigations and concerns over its operations.